Countries of south Asia - India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan - contain many groups making their living mainly by raising livestock extensively on pastures, often migrating seasonally between the high altitude Himalayas to the plains. A Special Issue on this topic was commissioned by Pastoralism in 2021. Seven research case studies are now published whose first authors are scholars and scientists from the south Asian region – India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan. The peoples and places include migratory Kinnaura and local herders using the Pin valley in Himachal Pradesh, India; Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh and the Van Gujjars of Uttarakhand, India; agropastoral Gaddis in Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh, India; transhumant agropastoralists in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan; agropastoralists in Madi Chitwan, Nepal; Dokpa pastoralists of North Sikkim, India; and pastoralists using Jigme Khesar Strict Nature Reserve and buffer zone, Bhutan.
Mountain agropastoralism: traditional practices, institutions and pressures in the Indian Trans-Himalaya of Ladakh
Animal husbandry of agropastoral communities in the mountainous region of Leh, Ladakh, has been transformed in response to socio-economic and geo-political changes. This study investigates the current state of...